Telstra gears up for sackings

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Telstra Corp is assessing the performance of up to 4000 senior
and middle managers as part of a program to cut fat and trim layers
of "bureaucracy" in Australia's number one telco.

Telstra managing director of corporate affairs Michael Herskope
said today that the program, dubbed `organisation architecture',
began at the start of the year and will continue for several
months. "This is a process that is progressing," he said. "Middle
and senior management roles are being assessed."

Herskope said assessments of staff across all Telstra business
units are being made on a case-by-case basis and that it does not
have a redundancy target.

"The program was introduced primarily to remove layers of
management in the company to in turn provide front line staff with
a more efficient environment - remove bureaucracy so they make
decisions quicker," he said.

"It's about improving our service to customers."

The number of cuts made in the first half of calendar 2005 are
likely to be known when the company reports its 2004/05 annual
results in August.

Telstra has previously denied speculation it would slash 10 per
cent of its workforce in the lead up to T3.

Last December, it said it planned to reduce the number of
decision making managers over the next 18 months and that the
program would start in 2005.

Earlier this month, Optus said it would shed an unspecified
number of managerial positions as part of a company
restructure.

Chief executive Paul O'Sullivan said the numbers "are not large"
and that the restructure was geared to create more efficiency for
the delivery of its products to customers.